Dress Alterations

Good dress alterations require understanding of the female body and knowledge of dress pattern-making. The more sophisticated the dress is made, the higher skills and knowledge are required to perform its alterations. There are wedding dresses, evening dresses, formal dresses, party dresses, dancing dresses and ready-to-wear dresses etc. Patterns of wedding dresses are a lot more complicated than mass-produced dresses. In order to perform good alterations on wedding dresses, the seamstress must understand these complicated patterns and their relationship with the overall design.

Furthermore, the seamstress should also understand the female figure. In general, female body shapes can be categorised into Apple (triangle downwards); Banana, or straight (rectangular); Pear, spoon, or bell (triangle upwards); and Hourglass (triangles opposing, facing inwards). In reality, our body shape changes all the time and a good seamstress must also be able to leave rooms and time for anticipated or unexpected changes.